Marcello Diomedi was born on December 1, 1942, in Calangianus near Sassari in Sardinia.
He started his career with Sangiorgese where he played from 1961 to 1964. In 1964 he signed for Ternana and it was a great season for him as he won the prize for best player. In 1965 he moved to Florence and stayed for two years. In 1965-66 Fiorentina won a Coppa Italia and a Mitropa Cup.
In 1967 he went south and signed for Bari. He stayed there until 1972, contributing to their return to Serie A in 1968-69 and to them remaining in the top tier the year after. Curiously, on April 12, 1970, when Cagliari were facing Bari in the decisive match for the scudetto, he was the only Sardinian native on the pitch, playing however for the other side.
In May 1970 he was loaned to Lazio for the Anglo Italian Cup. This tournament was, obviously, a European football competition between English and Italian clubs (following in the footsteps of the Anglo Italian League Cup). It ran from 1970 to 1973 and then again, as a semi-professional tournament, from 1976 to 1986. Lazio played in this competition twice (1970 and 1972).
There were three groups of four teams, two English and two Italian. The teams from the same nation did not face each other. The final standings were determined by the Italian and English teams that had earned more points.
The Biancocelesti were paired with Fiorentina, Sunderland and Wolverhampton. Lazio lost the two away games and won the two home ones.
He played three games for Lazio, a friendly against Doncaster Rovers, and the two games against Sunderland. At the end of this experience, he went back to Bari. He stayed in Apulia for another two years before signing for Fermana in Serie D in 1972. His last two years of active football were played with Alghero in the fourth tier.
After he stopped his professional career he continued playing football for fun and was involved with Unitalsi, the volunteer association that works to accompany people with difficulties of various nature to Lourdes.
He died on September 25 2021 in Jesi.
Lazio Career
Season | Anglo Italian Cup |
1969-70 | 2 |
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